Iraqi troops wrest strategic Anbar base from ISIS

Iraqi forces recaptured Anbar University on Sunday, a key Islamic State (ISIS) base located on the outskirts of Ramadi. The operation to retake the university complex was supported by U.S. air strikes against ISIS positions around the city.

ISIS militants used the site as a command base after taking control of the city in May. The campus is strategically located outside the city and the Islamic militants could have used it to stage any offensive to retake the city. Recapturing the complex from ISIS is a significant boost to the Iraqi forces’ efforts to reclaim the city, officials said.

“Our forces liberated the university early Sunday and now have full control of it, following a week of fierce clashes,” said Brigadier General Abdelamir al-Khazraji, deputy commander of Counter Terrorism Service forces in Anbar.

Many buildings in and around the complex were badly damaged or destroyed, provincial councilman Athal al-Fahdawi said.

Anbar province covers a vast stretch of the country west from Baghdad to the Syrian border, and contains key roads that link Iraq to both Syria and Jordan.

The Iraqi, Turkish, and U.S. militaries launched operations in the past few weeks to push ISIS out of Ramadi, Anbar, and Turkish border regions.

A U.S.-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes in Iraq and neighboring Syria since August 2014 in an attempt to push back the militant group trying to establish an Islamic caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria.

U.S. forces plan to continue striking ISIS as it negotiates with Turkey on Tuesday for a military campaign to push the group out of a strip of Syrian territory along the Turkish border. The discussions will center around Turkey’s security and how the Incirlik Airbase can be used.

After months of reluctance, Turkish warplanes started striking militant targets in Syria last week. With the aid of Turkey, Syrian rebels captured the town of Sareen in northern Syria on Monday.

Turkish police meanwhile have been raiding homes in a neighborhood in the capital, Ankara, on Monday, detaining at least 15 people suspected of links to the Islamic State group, the Turkish state-run news agency said. Turkey has arrested hundreds of people with suspected links to violent extremists.

Ahmet Davutoglu, the Turkish prime minister, said Turkey and the United States had no plans to send ground troops into Syria but had agreed to provide air cover to moderate Syrian fighters: “We want to see the moderate opposition take its place.”

The Turkish leader also said Turkey’s action against ISIS has “changed the regional game.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.